The Alibaba-backed company, which runs the online retail platform Paytm Mall, clocked Rs 7.3 crore in revenues with a loss of Rs 13.6 crore between August 2016 and March 2017, as per its financials.

PaytmE-commerce was created in August 2016 after its parent company One97 Communications, which used to run Paytm's wallets and e-commerce operations, separated the two businesses following the receipt of a payments bank licence.

While the online marketplace business was demerged, One97 still continues to own 49% stake in payments bank unit where rest of the stake is held by founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Paytm E-commerce spent approximately Rs 20.9 crore from August 2016 to March 2017.

“These are the initial years for Paytm Mall and we have a long term perspective on building a successful business,“ said a Paytm Mall spokesperson. “We will act as a technology enabler for the country's offline retailer community through the online-to-offline (O2O) model.“

Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial own a majority stake in Paytm E-commerce after an infusion of $177 million earlier this year by the former. In a bid to emerge as one of the contenders for the top spot against Flipkart and Amazon India, Paytm E-commerce has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for marketing, cashback and promotions in September-October sale.

The company aims to clock $4 billion in gross sales run rate by the end of 2017.

Paytm E-commerce has been touted to likely become the vehicle for consolidation going forward in the online retail space by Alibaba, which has held discussions with all major horizontal players in the country.

India's online retail market is expected to reach $69 billion by FY20, according to Goldman Sachs.